Ask A Breslover: Individualism & Breslov

Do you feel that Breslov is a more individualistic path than others? Does the community or “chaburah” (group) loom as large in Breslov Chassidus as elsewhere in the Chassidic world?

Rabbi Dovid Sears answers:

First, I think there is no way for anyone to follow a spiritual path except as an individual. As the old folk song goes, “You got to walk that lonesome valley by yourself.” This point is brought out very powerfully by the Rebbe’s story of the “Lost Princess.” The Viceroy first sets off with an attendant, but eventually must set off all alone into the great desert (where he finally encounters the three giants).

But you’re right, there is something different about Breslov. I don’t know if any Chassidic group stresses the inner path as much as Rebbe Nachman does. You can belong to Bobov or Klausenberg or Satmar or Chabad without being overly concerned about introspection or deveykus. But that’s not true of Breslov. In Breslov these concerns are essential.

And the opposite side of the coin is also true. Belonging to a kehillah or a chaburah is what defines most Chassidim. But in Breslov, it isn’t really the main thing. If a person walks into a Breslov shul and it becomes obvious that he learns the Rebbe’s seforim and considers himself a Breslover, nobody would question his “credentials,” even if he doesn’t dress like a chassid or speak Yiddish, etc. That wouldn’t be the case anywhere else that I can think of. At least, not the traditional places. In this sense, Breslov is a very “portable” Chassidus.

An Aspiring Breslover asks:

Doesn’t Reb Noson praise the “beis ha-midrash nikra al shemo,” synagogues associated with Rebbe Nachman and his followers? It seems that this was one of Reb Noson’s great tasks during his later years, building the Breslover Kloyz in Uman. Wouldn’t that point toward the importance of the group as such?

Rabbi Dovid Sears answers:

Yes, on both scores. It isn’t an “either/or” situation. There is definitely much value in creating communities and chaburos, which most of us need, to one degree or another. Through them, we can give chizuk to each other, grow in our understanding of the Rebbe’s teachings and Torah in general, daven together the way Breslover Chassidim like to daven, slowly and intensely, and help one another even bi-gashmiyus. I just mean to say that these things are more secondary in Breslov. “Im ein ani li, mi li,” as Pirkey Avos says. A person must encounter himself and work on himself. These are at the top of the list in Breslov. So much of the Rebbe’s sefer focuses on the inner work we all must do, especially through hisbodedus.

If we get our priorities reversed, we may still be called Breslover Chassidim, but will we be true Breslover Chassidim? The Gemara states that the internal and external qualities of a Torah scholar are supposed to be the same, “tokho ki-baro” (Yoma 72b). Rabbi Chaim Kramer once told me in the name of his Rosh Yeshivah, Rabbi Elyah Chaim Rosen, zal: “What is a mefursam shel sheker, a ‘false leader’? A Breslover Chassid who doesn’t practice hisbodedus.” To follow the Rebbe’s derekh, a person must go into himself. That’s the only way to find the Lost Princess.

Hmmm, what you said up there about how “You can belong to Bobov or Klausenberg or Satmar or Chabad without being overly concerned about introspection or deveykus” is not exactly true. I don’t know about the other types of Chassidus, but having grown up in Chabad, I have heard mashpi’im saying how without the A”R’s demand for “midas emes leYaakov”, he could have had many more Chassidim than he ended up having. Chabad is all about internalization; this is the essence of Tanya and of all Chabad Chassidus. What is true about your statement is that you can call yourself Chabad and not truly be internalizing. That’s because anybody can affiliate with anything. But a true chossid, a true oved, is emes. Just read Hayom Yom; it’s filled with anecdotes about Chassidim’s commitment to authenticity.
Again, I don’t know much about other types, but I have understood for a while that there seems to be a strong connection between the Chassiduyos of Chabad and Breslov. Their ideas are, more often than not, consistent with each other, and I believe that when there is an inconsistency, it is because of a misunderstanding and not because of an actual inconsistency. Don’t forget that this is Torah we’re talking about, not just ideas. Torah ideas are by definition consistent with each other, even if the people practicing (or claiming to be practicing) them are not.

There is a great difference in mental and intellectual efforts. The path that the Rebbe has shown us is one of tremendous mental striving. The primary goal of Chabad (and I suspect other chassidishe groups) is primarily intellectual.